Director Steve McQueen compares Michael Fassbender to Marlon Brando

Irish actor Michael Fassbender, who stars in Ridley Scott's upcoming 'Prometheus,' has become known as one of the most gifted actors of his generation.

Scott has called the 35-year-old star: "One of the best three or four actors out there. He holds the screen."

Certainly, Fassbender has played a wide range of roles including Mr Rochester is 'Jane Eyre,' Carl Jung in 'A Dangerous Method,' and Bobby Sands in 'Hunger.'

Said 'Hunger' director Steve McQueen, who has worked with the versatile actor several times: "There is no one like Michael out there right now. And there hasn't been, for me, since Marlon Brando. There's a fragility and a femininity to him, but also a masculinity that can translate. You're not in awe of him. You're part of him. He pulls you in. And that's what you want from an actor. You want people to look at him and see themselves."

According to the Guardian, Fassbender is known for his dedication to a role. When he played Bobby Sands in the 2008 film 'Hunger,' he survived on 900 calories a day and lost 40lbs.

Vincent Cassel, Fassbender's co-star in 'A Dangerous Method,' has said that he was "an amazing actor… he and I really got along. It was one of the reasons I was attracted to doing the film – getting to work with him."

David Cronenberg has described him as "so perky, it drives you crazy. One day [while filming 'A Dangerous Method'], I found him out in the sun in his costume and make-up, with this big smile. I said, 'Michael, why are you smiling like that?' He said, 'I don't know... life.' I said, 'It's so irritating that you're happy all the time.'"

Fassbender's father, Josef, is from Germany and his mother, Adele, comes from County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Fassbender was born in Heidelberg in west Germany and moved to Killarney with his parents when he was two years old.

The actor studied at the Drama Centre in north London but dropped out after being cast in Steven Spielberg's epic television mini-series 'Band of Brothers.'

Fassbenders breakthrough came in 2007 at the age of 30 when he met McQueen who was planning his debut feature film. The first meeting between the actor and director didn't go well. McQueen thought Fassbender was "cocky." Things went better when they were persuaded to meet again by the casting director.

McQueen has since compared the experience to "falling in love. You want to keep it. And I think myself and Michael are very pleased that we've found each other in that way."

Fassbender's performance in 'Hunger' won him a British Independent Film Award.